Prof. Dr Michael Graetzel
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
michael.graetzel@epfl.ch
Switzerland

Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, Michael Graetzel directs there the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He pioneered research on energy and electron transfer reactions in mesoscopic-materials and their application in solar energy conversion systems, optoelectronic devices and lithium ion batteries. He discovered a new type of solar cell based on dye sensitized nanocrystalline oxide particles. Author of over 800 peer-reviewed publications, two books and inventor of more than 50 patents, his work has obtained 60’000 citations so far (h-index 114), ranking him amongst the 10 most highly cited chemists worldwide. He has received several prestigious awards, including the Balzan Prize, the Galvani medal and the Faraday Medal, the Harvey Prize, the Gerischer Award, the Dutch Havinga Award, the International Prize of the Japanese Society of Coordinaton Chemistry, the ENI-Italgas Energy-Prize and the year 2000 European Grand Prix for Innovation. He was selected by the Scientific American as one of the 50 top researchers in the world. He received a doctor’s degree in Natural Science from the Technical University Berlin and honorary doctors degrees from the Universities of Hasselt, Delft, Uppsala and Turin. He is has been the Mary Upton Visiting Professor at Cornell University and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore. He was an invited professor at the University of Berkeley, the Ecole National de Chachan (Paris) and Delft University of Technology. In 2009 he was named Distinguished Honorary Professor by the Chinese Academy of Science (Changchun) and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He is a member of the Swiss Chemical Society as well as of the European Academy of Science, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was elected honorary member of the Société Vaudoise de Sciences Naturelles.

Prof. James Durrant
Imperial College , London
j.durrant@imperial.ac.uk

James Durrant is Professor of Photochemistry in the Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, and Deputy Director of Imperial College˙˙s Energy Futures Lab. Following undergraduate studies in Physics, his PhD and postdoctoral studies focused on the primary processes of plant photosynthesis. He joined the Chemistry Department in 1999, where he established an interdisciplinary research group focusing upon chemical approaches to solar energy conversion ˙˙ harnessing solar energy either to produce electricity (photovoltaics) or molecular fuels (e.g.: hydrogen). His research is based around employing photochemical studies to elucidate design principles which enable technological development. His group is currently researching organic and dye sensitized nanostructured solar cells, as well as photoelectodes for solar fuel generation. He has published over 170 research papers and 5 patents, and has recently been awarded the 2009 Environment Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Prof. Dr Arthur Nozik
U.S. DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory, United States

Dr. Arthur J. Nozik is a Senior Research Fellow at the U.S. DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Professor Adjoint in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 2009 Nozik was selected as Associate Director of a joint Los Alamos National Lab/NREL Energy Frontier Research Center for DOE called Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics. In 2007 he was appointed the Scientific Director of the new Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion under the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory. Nozik received his BChE from Cornell University in 1959 and his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Yale University in 1967. Before joining NREL in 1978, then known as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), he conducted research at the Materials Research Center of the Allied Chemical Corporation (now Honeywell, Inc). Dr. Nozik's research interests include size quantization effects in semiconductor quantum dots and quantum wells, including multiple exciton generation from a single photon; the applications of unique effects in nanostructures to advanced approaches for solar photon conversion; photogenerated carrier relaxation dynamics in various semiconductor structures; photoelectrochemistry of semiconductor-molecule interfaces; photoelectrochemical energy conversion; photocatalysis; optical, magnetic and electrical properties of solids; and Mössbauer spectroscopy. He has published over 200 papers and book chapters in these fields, written or edited 5 books, holds 11 U.S. patents, and has delivered over 250 invited talks at universities, conferences, and symposia. He has served on numerous scientific review and advisory panels, chaired and organized many international and national conferences, workshops, and symposia, and received several awards in solar energy research, including the 2009 Science and Technology Award from the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization associated with the U.N., the 2008 Eni Award from the President of Italy, and the 2002 Research Award of the Electrochemical Society. Dr. Nozik has been a Senior Editor of The Journal of Physical Chemistry from 1993 to 2005 and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Energy and Environmental Sciences and the Journal of Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. A Special Festschrift Issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry honoring Dr. Nozik’s scientific career appeared in the December 21, 2006 issue.. Dr. Nozik is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; he is also a member of the American Chemical Society, the Electrochemical Society, and the Materials Research Society.